Healed
by elfluvr
Summary: COMPLETE It was Monday, she was feeling fine, and it was time to go to work. Short followup to Rose Tombstones. Pure and utter BA fluff.


Title: **Healed**

Author: elfluvr

Summary: It was Monday, she was feeling fine, and it was time to go to work. Short follow-up to Rose Tombstones. Pure and utter fluff.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Dick Wolf, René Balcer and the actors who bring them to life. No harm intended, no money made.

Archive: Fanfiction - anywhere else, just ask

Feedback: Please! It's always welcome

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Chapter 1 - **Healed**

It had already been a little over a week – ten days if you actually wanted to count.

As she looked at her image in the mirror, Alex wished she could justify a few more days, but she knew she really was feeling well enough to go back. She doubted the City would accept 'appearance-marring bruises' as an excuse. More than that, Catholic guilt would start to eat at her by mid-morning. It was Monday, she was feeling fine, and it was time to go to work.

Her cheekbone was cracked, but there was nothing to be done about it other than be extra careful and let it heal on its own. The inside of her lip had taken two stitches. The rest of the damage had amounted to swelling and bruising. Pain killers the first couple of days and conscientious application of ice packs had helped her to heal. All that visibly remained was some minor swelling and an area on her cheekbone that still bloomed purple and blue, fading to sickly shades of yellow and green at the edges.

_Lovely. What color eye shadow would go best with that? _Alex frowned at her reflection. Sometimes that sarcastic little inner voice of hers could be really annoying.

Dabbing as best she could with liquid make-up while trying not to make her cheekbone throb, Alex thought about the last ten days. During her recovery, Bobby had stopped by every day – twice on weekdays – bearing appropriate food. Coffee, danish and smoothies in the morning. Something different for dinner each night. And always enough for two. It didn't take long for Alex to get used to having breakfast with him every morning, and she looked forward to the evenings probably more than she should. She suspected that the loss of his visits and the personal time they spent together was at least somewhat responsible for her reluctance to return to work.

On the down side, all that food explained why the zipper on her slacks was a little more stubborn this morning. She needed to talk to her doctor about releasing her for exercise – something more than long walks.

Bobby had offered to give her a ride to work, but after some inner debate, Alex thought it best to get back to her regular routine as quickly as possible. Seeing him in her apartment first thing every day had been causing some, uh… unusual dreams. Pleasant, but unusual. On a couple of mornings when she answered the door, she was still sleepy and her body remembered phantom caresses. She'd actually blushed the first time it happened. _What are you? Fifteen?_ Bobby had immediately placed his palm on her forehead, feeling for fever. _Oh yeah… that helps._

But today she was back at work and the ride up to the eleventh floor felt as normal as ever. She stepped off the elevator and as soon as she rounded the corner, the entire squad room broke out in cheers – clapping and whistling cat calls. Alex felt a blush spread across her face and she ducked her head in embarrassment. '_Oh god… I guess I should have expected this_,' she inwardly groaned. But even her worst cynicism couldn't stop her from grinning painfully when someone at the back of the room started playing the theme song from "Rocky." Alex looked to Bobby's desk for some support and sanity, but he was standing up and clapping along with the rest of them, a huge smile on his face.

Circling around their desks, Alex walked behind him to get to her chair and lightly shoved him in the back. "Sit down," she tried to grumble, but the laughter in her voice dulled the edge of whatever threat she was trying to make. Bobby just chuckled at her.

"All right, all right…" Deakins called from his office doorway. "I think we've embarrassed Eames enough." It took a little while, but the music finally died down and the cheering settled into greetings of, 'Welcome back' and 'You're looking good.' Alex waved or said 'thank you' to every one, trying to graciously accept this unexpected display of affection.

"Good to see you, Alex," the captain said before heading back into his office to answer his ringing phone.

The top of her desk was definitely more cluttered than when she last saw it. A pile of greeting cards was stacked next to her laptop. There was a pair of boxing gloves in her in-box, and Ramirez' welterweight trophy sat next to it. Someone had printed her name on a piece of paper and taped it over the engraved plate that announced his championship standing two years ago.

And in the very center of her desk was a long florist's box. Alex felt a second of anxiety as she remembered the roses from Brian Gregory, but she quickly shook it off. Bobby had returned them. This couldn't possibly be the same box, or the same sender.

She gave Bobby a questioning look, but he just shrugged. Alex tugged on the pale green satin ribbon and lifted the lid off the box. Cushioned in a cloud of white baby's breath were tulips – a mixture of yellow and pink and every one of them perfect. The card laying on top simply said, _'Welcome back – Bobby.'_

Alex was stunned. Receiving flowers from Bobby was reason enough for her brain to go a bit fuzzy, but these particular flowers…

While investigating a case, maybe three years ago, they'd gone into a florist's shop on Fifth Avenue to talk to the owner about a delivery the shop had made. On their way out, Alex had spotted the most beautiful arrangement of tulips she'd ever seen – yellow and pink. She'd made a passing comment to Bobby and mentioned that tulips were her favorites.

Her heart tripped then hammered in her chest. Barely able to breath, she looked up at him. "You remembered," she whispered.

Bobby's eyes met hers, soft and warm with a hint of satisfaction in their dark brown depths. He'd managed to utterly surprise her. "Why would I forget something so important?" he smiled gently.

And in that one breathtaking moment, she realized an exquisite truth – Alexandra Eames was desperately in love with Robert Goren.

End 


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